Put the bar as high as you can and get it done. Could you 8magine someone stopping at beating the home run record by 1 on purpose even with a week to go just to try and break it again the next week?
I thought I read somewhere that Red Bull was trying to work out a deal to essentially give him similar bonus payouts for records but just lump sum based on how much he beat it by.
ex. Instead of ~$100k bonus each time, he’d get $700k for getting 6.30. Essentially, he could still up the record by 0.01, but after any successful attempt at a WR he’d just take three bonus shots. Maybe try 6.4 a couple times then go for 6.5 or whatever.
Honestly can’t remember if I dreamt that or read it or just thought of it and was proposing it on a run, but I like the idea.
I, too, also hate success and would rather see mediocrity.
Look, the OP is right, we all know Mondo can jump at least 6.40, and has probably done so many times in practice. These 1cm world records feel a little fake. We just want to see his actual limits.
We all know that Track and Field (Athletics) does not pay what the top tier sports pay, so how can you fault a guy for wanting to maximize a his pay?
Don't know where you got that completely bogus info on clearing 21 ft regularly in practice, but even Mondo doesn't clear 20 feet regularly in practice. I've seen him do 20' 2", but it's not regular.
Man there are some bad takes on here. As usual, a bunch of people who understand nothing about the less popular events comparing the way things are done to their favorite event, or the ones they understand well.
How many NCAA championships in the distance events are sit and kick races? That's arguably more boring, watching some of the best runners in the world run at an okay high schoolers' pace for 80% of the race.
Why do we even bother running prelims in the sprint events if the clear favorite is going to pull up 20m from the finish line because they're qualified? What if that run would have been a record of some sort? No, they strategize to save themselves for the race that actually matters.
High level throwers and horizontal jumpers routinely pass attempts if they feel like they have a mark down that will win the competition. Why not take all 6 and see what they can really accomplish?
As you can see, every event in track and field has some form of sub-maximal, strategic angle. Of course we want to see how high Mondo can jump - I grew up on Bubka videos thinking we would never live through such a dominant era of the sport. However, you can't judge the way he is breaking his own records without also seeing the faults in the way your favorite event strategizes.
There is no money in the pole vault. He makes his money by having the ability to jump small, incremental records consistently year after year. It's a job for him, and he's performing it as any person would given the exact same situation. Y'all are lying to yourself if you disagree. Going for 6.40m takes away every money-making opportunity from 6.23-6.39m, which probably adds up to a few million dollars.
I understand the hate. Y'all didn't pay attention to the 15 minutes he needed to take between jumps at the 2022 Indoor World Championships to wait for the 4x400 walk-outs and handoffs. Y'all didn't pay attention to the hours he usually has to sit around and be ready to put his life on the line at a minutes' notice. Y'all don't pay attention to how most times there's no dedicated streams at even the highest level meets and instead we get one or two jumps replayed during a slow spot on the track feed. It's okay, the sport is just not for you.
I, too, also hate success and would rather see mediocrity.
Look, the OP is right, we all know Mondo can jump at least 6.40, and has probably done so many times in practice. These 1cm world records feel a little fake. We just want to see his actual limits.
What you "all know" is clearly nothing then. His practice PRs are 6.15 (LSU track) and 6.05 (Sweden track). He doesn't go for the WR in practice. Furthermore, he literally barely made his jump last week so I genuinely have no clue why you want him to go significantly higher than that and fail. He had trouble with this height the entire outdoor season, he's not faking.
On the day that he got the WR at Worlds last year, he was probably ready to go a bit higher, however after getting one PR/WR you are already emotionally drained. He said this himself. Furthermore, at no point in this outdoor season was he in shape to clear 6.30, and as I said he barely squeezed over 6.23 last weekend. I think what's happened here is that he's so good that you guys are spoiled and delusional about how often he would be able to just walk up to the track and obliterate his PR.
If you saw how the crowd and Mondo reacted to his world record in Oregon, you can imagine how crazy they'd get if he acknowledged the obvious and competed as an American. Make no mistake that he is probably the only kid trained from near birth to be the world's greatest pole vaulter in history. Bubka, by the way, was not clearing more than 6.23m in practice.
El Guerrouj messed up by dropping the 1500m record form 3:27.37 to 3:26.00 in one race. He should have tried to chip tenth of a second off with each race.
For that matter, Gebrselassie, who set 27 world records including breaking the outdoor 5000m record 4 times, really could have racked up the records if he didn't drop the 5000m record from 12:55 down to 12:44 in one race.
Look, the OP is right, we all know Mondo can jump at least 6.40, and has probably done so many times in practice. These 1cm world records feel a little fake. We just want to see his actual limits.
Deer Mondo-
Please listen to the old racist white men on here about what's best for you, I'm sure they know better than you.